PULLMAN – Over the weekend, Washington State hosted a few alumni of its football program, among them cornerback Marcus Trufant and wide receiver Gino Simone. Head coach Jake Dickert had them speak to the team and pass on advice, figuring their words of wisdom would resonate with the current Cougars. The words reverberated with Jackson Lataimua, a redshirt junior transitioning from nickelback to strong safety.
As he watched Simone deliver his message, which centered around having your teammates’ backs and not letting your brother down, something swelled in him. It hit home. “He kind of just reminded me that I can’t waste a day out here,” Lataimua said.
Lataimua did no such thing in Thursday’s practice, WSU’s eighth of fall camp. He capped one of his best practices all camp with a pick-six. Backed up into his end zone, Lataimua roamed the secondary, reading the eyes of quarterback Zevi Eckhaus, when he saw him lock on to tight end Cooper Mathers and begin to throw his way.
Lataimua raced to the spot, boxed out Mathers for position, caught the ball with two hands and took off the other way, with his defensive teammates trailing him all the way down the field. When they reached the other end zone, it turned into a party. “Are you not entertained?” yelled free safety Tyson Durant, a transfer from Akron.
Lataimua isn’t leaving much room for debate on that front. In one of his best displays of fall and spring practices, he made several plays, including that inter.